A Gates Millennium Scholar Reflection

When I was a senior in high school my guidance counselor handed me what Gates Millennium Scholars like to call “the big packet”. It was like she handed me the golden ticket to higher education. As a high achieving, low-income, minority student I dreamed of attending college but I had no idea how I would afford it. At the time, I was living on my own struggling to pay the bills and buy groceries. So when I had found out that I had been awarded a full-ride scholarship that would pay for my undergraduate and graduate school I cried in disbelief. I was going to get to go to college! The Gates Millennium scholarship demolished the financial barrier between me and my dream of higher education.

The Gates Millennium Scholarship not only made my dream of going to college a reality but it transcended it to include pursuing my doctorate degree in Mathematics Education. Prior to receiving the scholarship, I was unaware of graduate school. The scholarship did more than open the door to higher education, it opened my eyes to a whole set of new opportunities. Without this scholarship, I would not be a graduate student here at Texas State University.

As I finish my last semester, I reflect on where I was before I began my journey in higher education and where I am now. I am fortunate to say that the Gates Millennium Scholarship alleviated the financial burdens that haunted me in high school; today I am not worried about affording rent but rather I am focused on completing my dissertation and graduating. When I walk across the graduation stage this May, I will not only become a proud Texas State Alumni but I will also be first and foremost a proud Gates Millennium Alumni.